For the Hawaiian QSO Party (HQP), I like the idea of starting 4-hours later than most 48-hour contests. My issue with HQP is the dearth of in-state operations - this year's event brought only
7-stations, with many of the island counties dormant (as far as HQP is concerned). It is easy to
get used to the California QSO party (CQP), where making a county sweep is a distinct possibility every year.
7-stations, with many of the island counties dormant (as far as HQP is concerned). It is easy to
get used to the California QSO party (CQP), where making a county sweep is a distinct possibility every year.
By 08:00z, on 4 QSO with 3 stations (KH6LC, WH6R and NH6V) made it to the log. With nothing further heard, the better use of my time was spent sleeping as I needed to be up early to make the monthly meeting of the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) - I am club president - where we enjoyed a presentation by Mitch W6MLW on "Screwdriver" vertical antennas, after which WQ6X
made a brief presentation on the concept of noise-cancelling at the antenna end of things.
Tom WB6RUC always sets up a marine battery run ICOM 7300 Xcvr in the meeting room, feeding
a horizontal J-pole wire antenna atop the Oakland Yacht Club building in Alameda. Running as WA6OYC, a search was made of the higher bands for OHQP stations. The RFI-noise and atmospheric noise was so strong no Ssb copy was possible, prompting a switch to 20-meter Cw.
a horizontal J-pole wire antenna atop the Oakland Yacht Club building in Alameda. Running as WA6OYC, a search was made of the higher bands for OHQP stations. The RFI-noise and atmospheric noise was so strong no Ssb copy was possible, prompting a switch to 20-meter Cw.
With the 7300's digital noise reduction (DNR) enabled, after considerable "effort", KW8N made
it into the WA6OYC log. Submitting that 2-point score to WQ6X's 3830 score list, added another
contest event to the list, bringing the GiG total to #86 thus far this year.
it into the WA6OYC log. Submitting that 2-point score to WQ6X's 3830 score list, added another
contest event to the list, bringing the GiG total to #86 thus far this year.
Instead, the claim-to-fame was 4 contest events added to the 3830 scores list..
Thanks to the YO DX contest, I gained experience searching for Hawaiian stations
(altho somehow, I missed WH7T by not knowing when/where to look).
(altho somehow, I missed WH7T by not knowing when/where to look).
DiD YOU work the weekend contests?
Is WQ6X in your YO DX contest LoG/
How many HI & OH counties are in YOUR LoG?
How many HI & OH counties are in YOUR LoG?
So sorry to hear your HQP experience was disappointing again this year. The HF/contest/club community in Hawaii is very insular and closed - there are no efforts to promote HQP participation at all. When I needed to stop my outdoor portable operation in 2024, I found no encouragement or assistance from the local contesters - I really was hoping to do some remote operation like you, but never found a host. 2023 was my last active year in HQP.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame that HQP is dominated by a handful of multi-op efforts at elite contest stations. It really needs to have more individual operators and rovers like other state parties.
Don't expect change from the old barnacles that dominate HQP, Hawaii amateur clubs, and Hawaii contesting. They have left a bad taste in this HI HF-focused ham's mouth - so much that I decided to exit the hobby completely.
Best wishes to you with your remote QRP contesting experiences.
Bob ex-NH6O